Remember those rumours of the Red Hulk appearing in Captain America: Civil War? Well, it looks as if those stories were indeed bogus.

The Red Hulk is a role taken on by General Thunderbolt Ross in the comic book world, and so tongues began wagging when William Hurt was revealed to be reprising the General Ross role he took on in The Incredible Hulk for Civil War. The chances of a Red Hulk appearance has been debunked by none other than Civil War co-director Joe Russo.

Speaking to CBR, Russo said, “There’s always a chance at Marvel that you can see anything. But there, uh, let’s say… there is no Red Hulk in Civil War. General Ross has a big presence in Civil War. He’s a character who was ham-fisted in his approach in The Incredible Hulk, and that’s probably a polite way to put it. And I think he’s learned from his over-aggressiveness in that movie and he’s become more of a politician. He’s much savvier now, and he’s cornering The Avengers. Superheroes have always been anathema to him. He’s not a fan of them, and so now he’s come at them strategically by aligning the world against them and cornering them. So, he’s gotten much savvier and I think you’ll find that he’s grown as a character. He’s different than he was in The Incredible Hulk and he’s a more formidable and political opponent to them.”

In Civil War, it’s Ross who labels Captain America and his sort as vigilantes and pushes through the notion that these heroes need to be governed and have somebody to answer to. And this is where the division happens amongst The Avengers, with Tony Stark agreeing with Ross, whilst Steve Rogers firmly disagrees with Thunderbolt’s idea. From there, heroes are forced to choose sides as Iron Man and Cap go to war with each other.